Ex-CEO Sues Former NJ AG Over Tossed RICO Case

By George Woolston

The former CEO of The Michaels Organization, who was indicted in New Jersey's now-dismissed criminal racketeering case against South Jersey power broker George E. Norcross III, has accused former New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin and other members of his office of commencing the prosecution knowing there was no probable cause.

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NJ Federal Judge DQs Beasley Allen In J&J Talc MDL

By Emily Sawicki

A New Jersey federal judge has disqualified the Beasley Allen Law Firm from representing hundreds of plaintiffs in sprawling multidistrict litigation over Johnson & Johnson's talc-based baby powder, holding that the firm violated ethics rules by collaborating with former outside counsel for J&J, a ruling the law firm has vowed to appeal.

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Fired Cognizant Worker Was 'Uncooperative,' Jury Told

By Pete Brush

A Manhattan federal jury weighed claims Friday that Cognizant Technology Solutions fired a New York University professor for complaining about hiring bias, after a lawyer for the company called him a troublesome employee who has no contemporaneous evidence of his concerns.

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Skull Shaver Can't Stop NJ Judge From Moving IP Suit To NC

By Elliot Weld

A New Jersey federal judge has adopted the recommendation of a magistrate judge who said Skull Shaver's patent infringement case against The Cut Buddy over electronic razor technology could move to North Carolina federal court.

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Atty Sanctioned For AI Hallucinations In Workers' Comp Row

By Gianna Ferrarin

A New Jersey appellate court on Friday ordered an attorney to pay $1,000 in sanctions for failing to rectify AI-hallucinated case citations pointed out to him in an appeal concerning reimbursement sought by a workers' compensation carrier.

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3rd Circ. Scolds Atty For Using Client's AI Hallucinations

By P.J. D'Annunzio

In a precedential opinion Friday, a Third Circuit panel reprimanded an attorney who put his client's AI-assisted legal research into briefs without checking it, prompting one judge to remark that the punishment chosen by her colleagues wasn't harsh enough.

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Live Nation Beat Rivals With Better Tech, Jury Hears

By Stewart Bishop

A former executive for AEG Presents on Friday testified that his former employer's ticketing system was subpar to that of Live Nation's Ticketmaster, as counsel for the latter portrayed the live entertainment giant's dominant position in the market as a natural result of its superior services to clients.

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States Suspect ICE Obtained Medicaid Data Despite Order

By Julie Manganis

A coalition of states told a federal judge that the Trump administration appears to have ignored an order limiting the types of Medicaid data that can be shared with immigration officials, potentially handing over reams of "off limits" data on citizens and green card holders.

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BMW Facing ITC Trade Secrets Probe Of Infotainment Screens

By Jack McLoone

The U.S. International Trade Commission has opened an investigation into BMW's imports of what are known as infotainment screens, acting on a California technology company's allegations that the German vehicle manufacturer misappropriated its trade secrets to develop a cheaper option.

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Roundup

Real Estate Recap: Private Credit, Multifamily Potential, ICE

Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including attorney insights into a pivotal moment for private credit, industry perspective on undervalued multifamily markets and a look at the litigation over immigration detention center projects.

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State Carbon Cost Disparities Are Pivotal In Data Center Siting

When choosing U.S. data center locations, developers must carefully consider the patchwork of state and regional carbon emission pricing regimes that are layered on top of the federal permitting framework, creating compliance cost differentials that could add up to billions of dollars, say attorneys at Davis Graham.

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Series

Watching Hallmark Movies Makes Me A Better Lawyer

I realize you may be judging me for watching, and actually enjoying, Hallmark Channel movies, but the escapism and storylines actually demonstrate qualities and actions that lead to an efficient, productive and positive legal practice, says Karen Ross at Tucker Ellis.

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Firms Targeted By Trump Urge DC Circ. To Uphold EO Rulings

By Alison Knezevich

Four law firms targeted last year by President Donald Trump urged the D.C. Circuit on Friday to affirm lower court rulings that struck down executive orders restricting their ability to practice law, saying the directives blatantly violate the Constitution.

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Ex-Williams & Connolly Clerk Accused Of Posting Client Info

By Hailey Konnath

A former Williams & Connolly LLP clerk has been posting confidential firm information — including client information and work email exchanges — and he's threatening to "keep leaking" the materials, which he called "a fun read," according to a suit filed in District of Columbia Superior Court.

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BigLaw Races To Capture Expanding Fund Finance Market

By Kevin Penton

Debt financing work at the fund level has long been dominated on the lender side by attorneys from Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft LLP, Haynes Boone and Mayer Brown LLP, but other firms are increasingly crafting formal practices and poaching fund finance stars from the more established players.

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Apollo, BlackRock Deny Asking Kirkland To Abandon Optimum

By Tracey Read

Apollo, Ares, BlackRock and other major financial companies have denied Optimum Communications' claims accusing them of "bullying" Kirkland & Ellis LLP into withdrawing as the telecommunications company's transaction counsel to get revenge for a collusion lawsuit filed in New York federal court.

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Brief

Amazon Swaps MoFo In, Perkins Coie Out In Cooker Suit

By Ben Adlin

Amazon.com LLP switched counsel Friday in a customer's product defect suit accusing the retail giant of selling a faulty pressure cooker that allegedly malfunctioned and caused her severe burns, substituting two Morrison Foerster LLP attorneys in place of an outgoing Perkins Coie LLP lawyer.

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Judiciary Nixes Amicus Disclosure Reform Over Potential Chill

By Emily Sawicki

The federal judiciary has been asked not to move forward with a plan to add to amicus brief disclosure requirements designed to curb "dark money" groups from bankrolling amicus briefs, after rules committee chairs pulled the recommendation over concerns of a possible chilling effect.

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UK Litigation Roundup: Here's What You Missed In London

By Laura Stewart Liberty

The past week in London has seen Apple hit back at a tech company's wireless charging patent claim, a flurry of businesses bring COVID-19 pandemic insurance claims as a key deadline draws closer and Ipulse Partners LLP file a claim against a luxury yacht company it represented in a trademark dispute. Here, Law360 looks at these and other new claims in the U.K.

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GC Cheat Sheet: The Hottest Corporate News Of The Week

By Sue Reisinger

A federal judge has stopped the Pentagon from dropping AI giant Anthropic from the government's supply chain, and Latham & Watkins ranked first in a survey of in-house legal leaders on which law firms are most helpful in developing business, followed by King & Spalding, Jones Day and Ropes & Gray.

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Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

By Kevin Penton

The Lanier Law Firm, Kiesel Law LLP, Panish Shea Ravipudi LLP, Wagstaff & Cartmell LLP and Beasley Allen Law Firm lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after a California state jury in a bellwether trial found Meta and Google liable for harming the mental health of a woman who says she became addicted to their social media platforms as a child.

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In Case You Missed It: Hottest Firms And Stories On Law360

For those who missed out, here's a look back at the law firms, stories and expert analyses that generated the most buzz on Law360 last week.

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Mich. Judge Signals No Stay If Attys Exit Retaliation Suit

By Melanie Dorsey

A Michigan federal judge said Friday she is not inclined to pause a long-running sexual harassment suit again if counsel for an attorney who is suing her ex-mentor and former firm are allowed to withdraw, telling the parties, "We've been here. We've done this," as she heard arguments over a motion to exit the case.

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Mayer Brown's $21M Fee Bid In RI Truck Tolls Suit Rebuffed

By Linda Chiem

A Rhode Island federal judge on Friday rebuffed Mayer Brown LLP's bid for $21 million in attorney fees for representing the commercial trucking industry's lead trade group in long-running litigation over the state's truck tolling program, saying the American Trucking Associations ultimately was not the "prevailing party."

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